1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to lake improvement districts; modifying 
  1.3             provisions relating to lake improvement districts; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 103B.521, 
  1.5             subdivision 1; 103B.551, subdivision 1; and 103B.555, 
  1.6             subdivision 1. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 103B.521, 
  1.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [PETITION.] (a) A lake improvement district 
  1.11  may be initiated by a petition to the county board.  The 
  1.12  petition must state: 
  1.13     (1) the name of the proposed lake improvement district; 
  1.14     (2) the necessity of the proposed district to promote 
  1.15  public health or public welfare; 
  1.16     (3) the benefits to property from the establishment of the 
  1.17  lake improvement district; 
  1.18     (4) the boundaries of the proposed district which shall be 
  1.19  encouraged to be as consistent as possible with natural 
  1.20  hydrologic boundaries; 
  1.21     (5) a map of the proposed district; 
  1.22     (6) the number, from five to nine, of directors proposed 
  1.23  for the district; and 
  1.24     (7) a request for establishing the district as proposed. 
  1.25     (b) A petition must be signed by ~~26~~ 51 percent of the 
  1.26  property owners within the proposed lake improvement district 
  2.1   described in the petition.  Governmental subdivisions, other 
  2.2   than the state or federal governments, owning lands within the 
  2.3   proposed district are eligible to sign the petition. 
  2.4      (c) The petition must be filed with the county auditor and 
  2.5   addressed to the board, requesting the board to establish a lake 
  2.6   improvement district to develop and provide a program of water 
  2.7   and related land resources management. 
  2.8      (d) The county board shall, at least 30 days before it acts 
  2.9   on a petition, send the town board of a town wholly or partially 
  2.10  within the boundaries of a proposed district a copy of the 
  2.11  petition submitted under this subdivision and encourage the town 
  2.12  board to respond to the proposed creation of the district.  
  2.13     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 103B.551, 
  2.14  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.15     Subdivision 1.  [MEMBERSHIP.] After a lake improvement 
  2.16  district is established, ~~the county board or joint county~~ 
  2.17  ~~authority shall appoint~~ an election must be held for persons to 
  2.18  serve as an initial board of directors for the district.  ~~The~~ 
  2.19  ~~number, qualifications, terms of office, removal, and filling of~~ 
  2.20  ~~vacancies of directors shall be as provided in the order~~ 
  2.21  ~~creating the board of directors.~~  Election of the board of 
  2.22  directors must follow the procedures in sections 103C.301 and 
  2.23  103C.305.  The initial and all subsequent boards of directors 
  2.24  must include persons owning property within the district, and a 
  2.25  majority of the directors must be residents of the district.  
  2.26     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 103B.555, 
  2.27  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.28     Subdivision 1.  [REVENUE.] The county board or joint county 
  2.29  authority may undertake projects of improvement consistent with 
  2.30  purposes of the district only if the project is not funded by 
  2.31  another unit of government or the funding available has been 
  2.32  exhausted.  To finance projects and services of the district, 
  2.33  the county board or joint county authority may:  
  2.34     (1) assess the costs of the projects upon benefited 
  2.35  property within the district in the manner provided under 
  2.36  chapter 429; 
  3.1      (2) impose service charges on the users of lake improvement 
  3.2   district services within the district; 
  3.3      (3) issue obligations as provided in section 429.091; 
  3.4      (4) levy an ad valorem tax solely on property within the 
  3.5   lake improvement district, to be appropriated and expended 
  3.6   solely on projects of special benefit to the district; or 
  3.7      (5) impose or issue any combination of service charges, 
  3.8   special assessments, obligations, and taxes.